The 5 Most Interesting Animated Films Of 2012

I've been sort of hesitant to cover a majority of the animated films that have been rolling out in the last couple of years. A majority of them are slapped together quite quickly but some do happen to be heartwarming. Ones like How To Train Your Dragon, Up, The Incredible, Despicable Me or even the entertaining Kung Fu Panda series are worth seeing. Here are a few of the upcoming releases that I feel could be fun to check out.

Pixar's The Brave is sort of a no-brainer the company puts out solid content most of the time, excluding the Cars films. Using the backdrop of the Scottish Highlands the fairytale-like tale of Moira seems to be more of Disney princess film than someone you'd expect from Pixar. The voices are provided by Kelly MacDonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Julie Walters, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson and Robbie Coltrane. It will be released on June 22nd 2012.

ParaNorman is from the amazing stop-motion creative team behind Coraline. It focuses on a town that gets overrun by zombies and it's only hope is Norman, a child who can speak with the dead. The impressive voice actors include Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, Elaine Stritch, Bernard Hill, Alex Borstein, Tempestt Bledsoe and Hannah Noyes. It will be released on August 17th 2012.

The Lorax is an adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss book. However, it is a full length feature and has been tweaked to explore other characters and relationships. It's from the creators of Despicable Me and the cuteness factor does come out in the trailer. It stars Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Ed Helms, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle and Betty White. It will be released on March 2nd 2012.

Hotel Transylvania is another interesting genre-blending concept. The film focuses on Dracula who runs a monsters-only resort that gets disrupted when his daughter brings in a human. The characters will be played by Adam Sandler (Dracula), Miley Cyrus (his daughter),  Andy Samberg (the human), Kevin James (Frank, i.e. Frankenstein), Fran Drescher (Eunice, i.e. Bride of Frankenstein), David Spade (Griffin, the Invisible Man), David Koechner (Quasimodo), Cee Lo Green (Murray the Mummy), and Steve Buscemi and Molly as Werewolves. I'm not big on Sandler's recent crop of movies but it's being directed by Genndy Tartakovsky who is best know for his stunningly beautiful animated series Samurai Jack, Dexter's Laboratory and Powerpuff Girls. It will be in theaters September 21st 2012.

Wreck-It Ralph is a Disney film that has a lot of potential with director Rich Moore who worked on both The Simpsons and Futurama.The cast includes solid comedians John C. Reilly (Wreck-It Ralph), Jack McBrayer (Fix-It Felix Jr.), Jane Lynch (Sergeant Calhoun) and Sarah Silverman (Vanellope von Schweetz). It will be released on November 2nd 2012.

Wreck-It Ralph longs to be as beloved as his game's perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix. Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes... so when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun, Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan -- win a medal -- but soon wrecks everything, and accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph's only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz, a young troublemaking "glitch" from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it's "Game Over" for the entire arcade?